For centuries, ancient cultures embarked on rites of passage to gain entrance to the spiritual realms and attain self-knowledge. Now international lecturer and healer Denise Linn and Meadow Linn draw on their Native American roots, as well as the teachings of other cultures, to create a carefully crafted spiritual program for anyone wishing to venture on a retreat or create a uniquely personal Quest of his or her own. This practical, engaging book will show you how to:

This book gives you the necessary tools to prepare for a Vision Quest that will take you to the center of your soul.

EXCERPT

IN QUEST OF A VISION

There’s a realm beyond the physical senses. It’s a realm of mystery and spirit. It’s an infinite and eternal dimension that transcends form and goes beyond time and space. The search for this domain has gripped the hearts of human beings throughout history. From the early biblical prophets who walked alone into the desert to fast and pray for divine revelation to Native Americans setting out into the wilderness to search for a vision, the pursuit of an inner world, beyond everyday physical reality, is one of humankind’s oldest traditions. For thousands of years humans have retreated into nature in solitude to find answers to life’s questions and to gain spiritual wisdom. Though many of the old ways have been forgotten, there remains a means by which anyone can step through the crack between two worlds and enter mystical dimensions. This retreat, this Quest, is an ancient rite of passage; it’s a journey to the center of your soul.

As we hurtle into the future, the trappings of modern life isolate us from the earth and leave little room for the inward journey. We’re losing the ability to listen to the stirrings of our soul. In our urban communities we’ve lost an immediate connection with nature, which is the most powerful purveyor of visions, signs, and messages from the realm of Spirit. We’ve forgotten how to look for these signs, how to listen to the messages in the winds, and how to gain wisdom from the trees. Earning money, keeping up with technological advances, and raising a family make it difficult to still the mind and open the heart. Hence, very few people truly understand what forces have motivated their life or have shaped their destiny.

Going on a Quest is a powerful way to reclaim a sense of wonder and connection to the earth. It can take the form of a journey into nature for solitude and for introspection that encourages answers to personal questions to rise from within. A process of simplification then occurs where you discover what is truly important in your life. You can begin to reach the source of any pain you may have so that it can be healed. A Quest can also give you certainty about your future, as well as help you develop spiritual depth. It’s an act of power that can change your life forever.
There are many ways to embark upon a Quest in present times. You can trek into the wilderness where spiritual realizations are gained through survival or make a pilgrimage to a sacred site. However, a Quest can be as simple as taking an afternoon to sit in stillness in a forest or experiencing solitude indoors in a specially prepared room.

One form of Quest requires sitting in nature for three to four days and nights, calling for a vision that gives guidance about one’s life. In ancient native cultures this tradition, called a Vision Quest, was often used as a rite of passage into adulthood because it was felt that the visions received by young men or women helped determine the roles they would play as adult members of their tribe. Later in life they would continue to use this ritualized retreat whenever they needed to gain help from the Spirit powers.

For those tribal people, the Vision Quest was an extension of a religious experience that was based on the earth they walked on, the sky above them, and the beauty of nature that permeated every waking moment. Life was seen as one long, mystical sojourn in which the Creator spoke to them through every sunrise and every evening breeze. They knew they were constantly surrounded with messages and signs from the spiritual realms, and the Vision Quest allowed them to be still long enough so that they could listen intently to these messages.

In ancient Native American tradition, a vision seeker usually climbed a mountain or went to a special place in nature. Sometimes their sacred site, or “dreaming place,” was a pit dug into the side of a hill. Usually the seeker sat in the center of a special circle of stones (a medicine wheel) that created a safe and holy place. Often, this place for vision seeking had been used by the family for generations. The length of the Vision Quest varied from tribe to tribe; however, the seeker usually stayed for four days and nights without food (and in some traditions without water). A man named John Lame Deer, who later became a medicine man, describes his Vision Quest, near the turn of the century, when he was a boy named Johnny Fire:

"Here I was, crouched in my vision pit, left alone by myself for the first time in my life. I was 16 then, still had my boy’s name, and let me tell you, I was scared. I was shivering and not only from the cold. The nearest human being was many miles away and four days and nights is a long, long time. Of course when it was all over I would no longer be a boy, but a man. . . .

Blackness was wrapped around me like a velvet cloth. It seemed to cut me off from the outside world, even from my own body. It made me listen to the voices within me. I thought of my forefathers who had crouched on this hill before me. . . . I thought that I could sense their presence. . . . Sounds came to me through the darkness: the cries of the wind, the whisper of the trees. . . . I felt feathers or a wing touching my back and head. . . . I heard a voice that was human. . . . A voice said, “You are sacrificing yourself here to become a medicine man. In time you will be one.” Slowly my fear left me . . . I felt power surge through me like a flood. . . . When old man Chest [his uncle] came for me, he told me I was no longer a boy. I was a man now. I was Lame Deer."

A Quest of any kind is a heroic journey. It’s a rite of passage that carries you to an inner place of silence and majesty and encourages you to live life more courageously and genuinely. The benefits of a Quest are numerous. A Quest can help you to: